On August 17, the Latino Committee’s meeting featured a conversation with Director Fede Alvarez. In a conversation moderated by moderated by Latino Committee Co-Chair/Director SJ Main Muñoz (Manifest), Alvarez spoke about the evolution of his career from making short films in his native Uruguay such as the YouTube viral hit Ataque de Pánico (Panic Attack!), to features with Sam Raimi such as the reboot of Evil Dead and the hit suspense thriller, Don't Breathe.
During the discussion, Alvarez revealed how he prepares himself to direct a new project such as his upcoming installment of the Alien franchise.
“I always see myself really as a student of the craft because there's no way you can have it down 100%. I watch a bunch of master classes and Directors talking about directing and if there’s something interesting at DGA, I'll go sit there as if I'm a student learning something new. I had the great opportunity in this movie of sitting with Ridley Scott and also had a two-hour phone call with James Cameron about how to approach filmmaking. So, most of it is preparing in my head and really trying to figure out what's the ball that I need to keep my eye on. There's so many things I gotta’ do as a Director, but not all of them are equally important. So, I’m trying to zero down on what is the thing that makes the whole difference. People talk about the 20/80 principle. So for me it is ‘what is the 20% of the elements of this movie that will make 80% of the difference. It’s a good way to economize your energies as a Director.”
Alvarez’s directorial credits include the features The Girl in the Spider’s Web, Don't Breathe and Evil Dead; episodes of the series Calls and From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series; and the short film Ataque de Pánico (Panic Attack!).
Alvarez has been a DGA member since 2014.
ABOUT THE COMMITTEE:
The Latino Committee was created as a networking group to advance career and job opportunities for Latino DGA members by improving craft skills, networking, and making Latinos better known to the Hollywood creative community.
See video from this event in the gallery below.